Question of the Day

Suggested by Shaker lattendicht: "Have you ever ridden a horse?"

I certainly have! There is something incredibly powerful and calming, at least for me, about spending time with horses. Every chance I've ever had to hang out with, care for, ride, walk beside, or nuzzle the velvety muzzle of a horse, I've taken it, for literally as long as I can remember.


That's my wee diaper-sagged ass feeding carrots to Todie, our neighbor's horse. I was about thirteen months old in that photo, which was taken the summer of 1975.

My mom and I used to walk down to the pasture, which was maybe 100 yards from our house, and it always seemed like the longest walk in the world, because I couldn't wait to see Todie, and his small companion pony Princess. I loved them beyond words.

One of the privileges of growing up in an exurban area is access to animals, which not every kid in the city and suburbs has so easily (or at all). I love that there are now therapy programs that connect people with horses, mini-horses, and ponies — particularly when they also do visits at libraries, not only providing much-needed therapeutic visits to people who (more evidently) need it, but also exposing more kids to animals with whom they might not get to interact otherwise.